RA #8- "Land of the Lost" Trailer

WATCO and Enthymeme

What are the consequences of showing widely recognizable themes, structures and people on ticket sales for "Land of the Lost"?

Showing widely recognizable structures and people will increase the willingness of people to see the movie because the familiarity with those recognizable things provides both fans of the original series and fans of Will Ferrell a reason to be willing to see the movie.

Audience

1. Fans of Will Ferrell

2. Fans of the original "Land of the Lost" TV series who are hesitant about a remake

Goal

Show how funny Will Ferrell will be in the movie and assure original LOTL fans that the movie will be a worthy adaptation.

How?

For starters, Will Ferrell is in this trailer. A lot. The trailer provides sufficient reason to believe that Will Ferrell, perhaps the world's most recognized funnyman, will provide plenty of laughs in this film.

A couple of strong appeals to pathos also make an appearance. The first is at the beginning of the trailer, as Ferrell's character is interviewed by Matt Lauer on the "Today" show. This makes an appeal to fans of the show (the slightly older crowd) to come see what role the show will play throughout the film.

The other appeal to pathos comes at the 1:28 mark, when the "alternate universe" features, among other things, a disheveled Golden Gate Bridge and Big Ben. This piques the interest of those watching to see if any of their favorite landmarks will find their way to the big screen, as well.

For those acquainted with the original LOTL, a few phrases and visuals appeal to their sense of ethos, most notably the phrase "the greatest earthquake ever known" and the shot of the raft going down the waterfall. This helps these fans to feel at least somewhat comforted that some aspects of the original will remain intact.

Effectiveness

Fans of the original will probably still be skeptical about what the trailer didn't show, but will still likely want to see the film anyway. Fans of Will Ferrell got a healthy helping of his comedy, which will whet their appetites for more upon seeing it. I say effective.